What conclusions should be drawn from this bracing encounter between two teams determined to give no quarter? Was it two points dropped for Spurs as their run without a Premier League win extended to four matches? Or was it a point earned, after being forced to play most of the second half with 10 men? For Watford, should they have taken greater advantage of the dismissal of Davinson Sánchez in the 52nd minute? Or had they proven they can go toe to toe with the big teams and compete?
In the end the managers were inclined to take a positive approach. Watford’s Marco Silva was proud of the performance and was aggrieved not have been awarded penalties in two contentious incidents. Meanwhile, his Tottenham counterpart, Mauricio Pochettino, was almost serene, singing the praises of his team for the way they kept attacking and insisting their current run is character forming.
The sending off of Sánchez was biggest moment, the defender dismissed for stopping a Richarlison counter-attack with an arm to the Brazilian’s face. Pochettino was disinclined to express much of an opinion, but suggested the contact was accidental. “I’m not going to complain, I’m not going to say anything,” he said. “Of course we are going to watch it back on video and I’ve had lots of messages on my phone, some are saying he should have been sent off, some say not. I think it was not his intention but maybe the arm touches the face of the player and that is the interpretation of the referee.”
Sánchez’s arm certainly did touch Richarlison face and Silva was in no doubt about the dismissal. His concern was more whether Watford should have had a spot-kick in the dying seconds after Richarlison’s cross rebounded off the arm of Eric Dier.
“The defender stops Richarlison with an arm in his face, that is obvious,” the Watford manager said. “Maybe he wants to put it on another part of the body, but the arm goes into the face. Maybe also Dier didn’t want to put his hand on the ball, but we should have had one penalty.”
When the teams were even in number, Spurs were dominant in possession while Watford menaced on the counter. It was Richarlison who was central to their approach, his pace and control an instant release whenever they were under pressure.
His breakaway run, hugging the chalk of the touchline, earned a corner from which the home side opened the scoring in the 13th minute. Tom Cleverley played Richarlison in and then delivered the corner that was headed home by Christian Kabasele, the Belgian defender eluding his marker, a sleeping Harry Kane.
Spurs equalised 12 minutes later, seconds after Watford had had another loud penalty appeal. Ben Davies appeared to have barged Richarlison off the ball in a goalmouth scramble but as the Watford players threw their hands in the air, Kieran Trippier burst into the space left by the Brazilian. The full-back slipped a pass through to Christian Eriksen, the Dane darted to the touchline and then provided the perfect pull-back for Son Heung-min, who turned the ball home at the back post from six yards.
Spurs might have scored just before the break with a Davies volley and came out in the second half with an assertiveness that looked set to pay dividends. The dismissal of Sánchez might have changed all that but Pochettino was pleased with the way his team dug in and continued to create opportunities. Trippier was at the heart of things and Moussa Sissoko blazing into the side-netting when put through.
At the other end, Silva had to hold his breath along with the rest of the ground as Abdoulaye Doucouré’s imperious drive from a corner cannoned off the inside of the post and away from goal.
“In the last few games all is against us, but this is a very good experience,” Pochettino said. “It’s important in football to sometimes feel frustration and in the future the team will be stronger.
“We need to know that it’s not always easy. Sometimes a tough period is important because that’s when you build your character.”